Lactuca sativa ‘Pirat’
‘Pirat’ lettuce features ruffled leaves with brown pebbling and burgundy tips, but this butterhead type isn’t just a feast for the eyes.
It has some of the most flavorful leaves of any lettuce cultivar.
With its impressive disease- and bolt-resistance, this heirloom produces large heads that are nearly immune to bottom rot, downy mildew, and white mold.
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‘Pirat’ falls in the category of butterhead lettuces, which are those with buttery soft, round leaves that form loose, somewhat open heads. The leaves have a sweet flavor and crisp texture.
Ready to set sail? Great! Let’s go over everything you need to know to grow ‘Pirat’ lettuce and enjoy the bounty in under two months!
Here’s what I’ll cover:
What You’ll Learn
‘Pirat’ is an heirloom butterhead lettuce that originated in the German Alps in the mid 1900s from the French favorite ‘Merveille des Quatre Saisons,’ which translates to “Marvel of Four Seasons.”
Quick Look
Common name(s): Pirat, butterhead lettuce
Plant type: Annual leafy vegetable
Hardiness (USDA Zone): 2-11
Native to: Cultivated variety
Bloom time / season: Spring-fall, winter with protection
Exposure: Full sun to part shade
Soil type: Loose, rich, well-draining
Soil pH: 6.0-6.5
Time to maturity: 50-55 days
Mature size: 12 inches tall by 12 inches wide
Water Needs: Moderate
Taxonomy
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Genus: Lactuca
Species: sativa
Cultivar: ‘Pirat’
Other names for ‘Pirat’ include ‘Sprenkel,’ which is German for “sprinkles,” a reference to the brown speckling on the leaves, and ‘Brauner Trotzkopf,’ which translates to “resistant brown head” – presumably referring to its impressive bolt resistance.
The large heads grow to about 12 inches tall and wide when mature.
How to Sow
Cold weather brings out the burgundy hue, so try to grow ‘Pirat’ during the cooler months if you want to highlight the color.
From Seed
A packet of seeds can be had for a song and you can start dozens of lettuce heads. Consider succession sowing for an extended harvest.
Since the heads take about 50 days to mature, you can start them directly in the garden if you have about two months of temperatures below 85°F and above freezing.
Or start your seeds indoors and move them out when the seedlings are several inches tall with multiple true leaves. You don’t even need to move them outside, you can grow lettuce indoors if you prefer.
To sow ‘Pirat’ seeds outdoors, the soil needs to be above 32°F and you need to have at least six hours of sunlight per day.
Prepare the soil by working in lots of well-rotted compost. Water the soil and sow the seeds about an eighth of an inch deep and eight inches apart.
For starting indoors, fill a seed tray with potting medium and moisten it well. I’m a fan of Tank’s-Pro Potting Mix.
It contains coco coir and organic compost for excellent water retention, drainage, and nutrients.
Pick up one and a half cubic feet at Arbico Organics.
Sow the seeds an eighth of an inch deep and about three inches apart. Place the tray in an area that receives at least six hours of sunlight or supplemental lighting.
Keep the soil moist but not soaking wet as the seeds germinate. Thin the seedlings to about six inches apart.
Transplant into the garden when they are three to four inches tall with several true leaves.
Transplanting
To transplant seedlings you’ve grown or nursery starts you’ve purchased, start by working some well-rotted compost into the area where you intend to plant.
Dig a hole the size of the growing container and remove the seedling from its growing container.
Put the seedling into the hole you made and firm the medium up around the roots.
Water the ground well. If you’re planting multiple plants, space them about 12 inches apart.
How to Grow
Growing ‘Pirat’ is just as easy as any other type of lettuce. Let’s go over the cultural requirements:
Light
Plant in full sun. Though lettuce is a cool weather crop, that doesn’t mean it needs to be in the shade.
If you live in a region with unexpected hot days in spring or fall, it never hurts to plant somewhere where the heads will receive just a bit of shade in the hottest part of the afternoon.
If you plant in very early spring, don’t forget that some of the trees around the garden might fill in and provide additional shade that you hadn’t planned. Not that I’ve learned this from experience, or anything.
Soil
‘Pirat’ requires loose, organically-rich soil, with a pH of about 6.0 to 6.5. If you’re growing your lettuce in containers, choose a moisture-retentive but well-draining potting mix.
Water
The soil should always remain consistently moist. Moist doesn’t mean wet, you don’t want the ground to be soggy or mushy. It should feel like a well-wrung-out sponge.
It’s hard to estimate how much water or how often you’ll have to add water since this can vary greatly depending on the time of year, temperature, environment, soil composition, and rainfall. Just aim to keep the soil evenly moist.
A layer of straw mulch can really help with this. Heap an inch or two of straw around the heads, but the straw shouldn’t be touching the plants themselves.
This will help the ground stay moist as well as suppress weeds, which can harbor disease and compete with your crop for nutrients and water.
Fertilizing
Before you add any fertilizer, I’d strongly recommend you test your soil.
A soil test will highlight any deficiencies and that way, you can amend with what the soil requires and avoid creating imbalances of major nutrients.
If you don’t want to test your soil and you added compost when planting, you don’t need to fertilize at all.
If you have depleted soil or you forgot to amend with compost, you can apply a nitrogen-based fertilizer a month after planting.
Something like Down to Earth’s bat guano food would be just right. It’s available at Arbico Organics in four ounce, two pound, or 10 pound containers.
Where to Buy
‘Pirat’ is a popular cultivar so you shouldn’t have any problem finding it at local nurseries or online if you prefer.
I always buy mine from High Mowing Organic Seeds, and they carry ‘Pirat’ in a variety of packet sizes to suit your needs.
Managing Pests and Disease
Like all types of lettuce, birds, deer, rabbits, voles, and mice will all enjoy your ‘Pirat’ if you don’t take steps to keep them away.
Fencing or floating row covers can help, but if you have persistent problems with mice or voles you might want to grow in a container instead.
This cultivar can be damaged by all the usual potential pests, like slugs and snails, aphids, and various caterpillars. Read our guide to lettuce pests for more information.
‘Pirat’ is one of the most resistant to common issues like bottom rot (Rhizoctonia rot), downy mildew, tip burn, and white mold of all the butterheads.
Lettuce diseases likely won’t be a problem.
Harvesting
The heads are ready in about 50 to 55 days, though it can take a bit longer depending on the weather.
You can harvest a few leaves here and there as you need them, of course. But you’ll need to wait until the head is fully mature if you want the full potential harvest.
The heads are about the size of a softball when they’re ready.
Use scissors or a sharp knife to cut the head at the base. Wrap it in cotton cloth or paper towels and place in a plastic bag. They can last over a week in the crisper drawer this way.
Ahoy Mateys! It’s An Abundance of Lettuce Ahead!
When it comes to booty, you can’t eat gold doubloons, but you can dress up ‘Pirat’ in all kinds of ways in the kitchen. Now that’s the kind of riches I like to find.
This particular lettuce cultivar is disease resistant and incredibly delicious, so it’s a real treasure.
Now it’s my favorite part of growing lettuce: eating it! How do you like to use yours? Do you have an incredible salad recipe you’d like to share? Let us know in the comments section below!
And for more information about growing lettuce in your vegetable garden, add these guides to your reading list next:
